


So… you got impersonated

by aphrodaisyacs



Series: Mischief Managed [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Based on a Tumblr Post, Captain America is an internet meme, Crack Treated Seriously, False Identity, Gen, Humor, Loki pretending to be Captain America, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Shapeshifting Shenanigans, Steve is done, Unexpected Character Study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-08 21:59:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16437596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aphrodaisyacs/pseuds/aphrodaisyacs
Summary: Steve was torn between praying for the ground to swallow him, and interrupting them to ask Peter just where he first saw those videos. Because as much as they felt like the cheesy propaganda movies he was forced to be a part of back in the war, the man on the screen, who looked and even sounded exactly like him…“That’s not me. I don’t remember recording any of these.”Or: The one where the Avengers find out that PSA Captain America from Homecoming is actually someone completely different.





	So… you got impersonated

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this](http://wikketkrikket.tumblr.com/post/178988896663/i-always-found-it-a-bit-odd-hilarious-but-it) hilarious headcanon. The story is set in an AU where Infinity War has been cancelled and Steve and Tony have gotten their shit together.

It all started because Steve turned around in his chair.

Like most days, only about half of the Avengers were actually at the compound- Wanda and Vision were out on a date, Clint was visiting his family for the week, and Thor and Bruce were still in Norway helping the Asgardian refugees settle. As for those on base, Tony and Rhodey were in the lab going over upgrades for the War Machine suit, while Peter hung out with Steve, Sam and Natasha in the common room.

Instead of joining the other three on the couches for their James Bond marathon, Steve was sitting at the table with his tablet propped up in front of him. On the screen, Bucky laughed.

_“Sorry Steve, I gotta go,”_ his best friend said. He kept getting interrupted by the loud bleating in the background, and he petted the nose of the closest goat. _“My kids need me.”_  

Steve grinned.

“Well alright then. Talk to you soon.”

Steve closed the tablet after the Skype call ended. Behind him, dramatic music blared from the TV speakers. Probably an action sequence. Spy flicks may not be his cup of tea, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t at least mildly curious about what was happening on the screen.

So he turned around in his chair.

Apparently, Peter wasn’t actually paying attention to the movie, because he immediately perked up and said, in a comically serious voice:

“So… you got detention.”

The boy was looking at Steve with bright expectant eyes and a cheeky grin, but Steve could only stare back bemusedly. He was ready to write it off as another modern reference that he was never going to get, but when Peter’s grin faltered, instead of twisting into the awkward disappointment that Steve was used to, the boy’s expression morphed into one of genuine surprise.

“Really? But it’s from the Captain America PSA videos!”

Steve blinked.

_The what now._

“You know,” Peter made a vague gesture with his hands, “the ones where you say stuff like- I mean, there’s a fitness one, a detention one, and there’s even one where you talk about head lice!”

At that point Natasha paused the film, no longer bothering to pretend that she hadn’t been listening the whole time.

“Alright, man.” Sam turned to Steve, looking far too amused. “What have you been doing in your spare time?”

“Nothing!” Steve immediately protested, then internally cringed at how defensive it sounded. “I honestly have no idea what he’s talking about.”

“Steve, you know we wouldn’t judge, right?” Natasha said, even though the twinkle in her eyes said otherwise.

Steve opened his mouth to reply, but thought better of it. Instead, he turned to Peter, who immediately held his arms up in surrender.

“Look! I swear I’m not lying!”

Peter pulled up a YouTube video titled _Rappin’ with Cap - Captain America PSAs_ on his phone and Steve couldn’t help but stare at the man on the small screen, who was wearing an exact replica of that ridiculous suit he hadn’t worn since the Battle of New York.

_“Hi, I’m Captain America. I love celebrating this nation on 4th of July, but trust me- there’s nothing patriotic about illegal fireworks.”_

The abrupt zoom-in on his disappointed face made Sam snort in laughter, which in turn set Peter off into giggles. By the time the next segment on healthy eating rolled around, even Natasha’s shoulders were shaking.

Steve, however, was torn between praying for the ground to swallow him, and interrupting them to ask Peter just _where_ he first saw those videos. Because as much as they felt like the cheesy propaganda movies he was forced to be a part of back in the war, the man on the screen, who looked and even sounded exactly like him…

“That’s not me. I don’t remember recording any of these.”

“Wait- wait seriously?” Peter gaped. “So it’s just some guy dressed up like you?”

“No way,” Sam gasped in between fits of laughter. “He sounds just like you.”

Natasha squinted at the Captain America on the screen.

“He’s wearing the exact same thing you wore in New York.”

But before Steve could reply, Tony and Rhodey strode into the room.

“What’s going on here? You showing them another one of your Vines or whatever?” Tony asked as he set down his mug of coffee.

“Nope,” Natasha replied. “But it seems like someone’s been impersonating Captain America.”

Rhodey grimaced.

“Again? What did this one do, rob a bank?”

Tony huffed.

“Rhodey, I love you, but you watch too much news. It’s probably just another cosplayer.” Tony leaned over to look at Peter’s phone. “But seriously, what’s this one doing?”

“PSAs, apparently,” Steve said, pinching the bridge of his nose, because _great,_ Tony’s never going to let him live this down, even though it wasn’t even _him._

“They’re government-sanctioned,” Peter added, as if that made things better. “I mean, it’s shown in every public school. They even continued showing them when he was, uh, on the run.”

Tony, who was clearly paying more attention to the video than what Peter was saying, let out a surprised bark of laughter.

“Are you sure this isn’t you? Like, you don’t have a long-lost twin running around somewhere, do you?”

“I’m pretty sure that twin would be too old, and possibly too dead to pass as me,” Steve said drily.

“Maybe you _did_ do this and the experience was so horrible that you forgot all about it?” Rhodey grinned after the video finally ended.

“What about a clone?” Sam suggested. “You think HYDRA would’ve tried cloning Steve to get their own perfected supersoldier?”

Sam’s words were a vacuum which practically sucked the life out of the room. Steve was sure that if he concentrated, he could hear himself blink.

Tony awkwardly cleared his throat.

“Alright, FRIDAY, find out which company made those videos and get in touch with them.”

 

* * *

  

“I swear it! Captain America _himself_ came in and it was all his idea- he came in and said how much he wanted to help with the youth of today. You can ask him yourself!”

Steve winced.

“I’m sorry miss, but I _am_ him. And I definitely don’t remember doing any of those videos. The Avengers and I- we’re certain that the guy who walked into your studio is an imposter. And we’re wondering what information you might have on him.”

The poor woman on the other end of the phone sounded horrified and apologetic, though she genuinely didn’t seem to know much. She even offered to remove the videos from circulation as much as possible. Steve was tempted, he really was, but he turned down the offer. After all, as embarrassing as the videos were, there was nothing particularly _bad_ about them. Trying to remove them would only be an unnecessary headache.

The company also happened to be based in an old building- one which didn’t even have security cameras installed, much to Tony’s frustration. In the end, the only thing they learned about the fake Captain America was that he had apparently entered and left the building fully suited up, which was definitely odd but no help to finding out who the guy really was.

Their investigation continued with Tony enlisting the help of FRIDAY to scan through the internet for anything with the fake Captain America in it. But it turned out, much to everyone’s horror, that the fake Captain America was a 100% match in terms of facial and voice recognition to the real deal. Thus, FRIDAY ended up pulling up every image and every video of Steve that was online.

Needless to say, there was a lot.

Natasha wrinkled her nose at the results.

“Can we please get rid of all the… memes? They’re not helping at all.”

“Aw come on, some of them are actually pretty funny,” said Sam.

“I know right,” Tony snickered. “I mean, dubstep remix of a Captain America speech? Who’d even think of that?”

“Some people just have too much time on their hands,” Rhodey said, though his sensible words were marred by the grin threatening to split his face.

Steve spotted a video titled _Compilation of Captain America saying ‘ass’_ and promptly buried his face in his hands.

“Yeah lets get rid of them,” he muttered through his palms.

They got rid of all the memes, and then all of the footage from press conferences and speeches that the Avengers themselves were a part of. That left mostly paparazzi shots and everything from before the ice.

The process of verifying whether it was him or not was long and arduous, and Steve was grateful that he had everyone else’s help. There were a few false flags, ones that Peter had debunked as being “photo-shopped”. But ultimately, even after they’ve gone through everything, even after Steve had become sick of seeing his own face, they couldn’t actually find anything else other than the PSA videos on the fake Captain America.

With no leads, they reluctantly dropped the investigation. But even though everyone was on high alert for the fake Captain America, he never made a public appearance again.

 

* * *

  

Steve didn’t even think about the fake Captain America again until almost half a year later.

Just last week Bucky made a full recovery and finally moved out of Wakanda and into the compound, becoming an official Avenger in the process.

And then that morning, Thor and Bruce returned to New York for a bit, even bringing Loki and Brunnhilde with them. Although Loki and Brunnhilde had settled in Norway with the other Asgardian refugees, the two of them, along with Heimdall, were the ones who Thor and Bruce brought back to the base most frequently. Brunnhilde was generally standoffish, though she did for the most part get along with the other Avengers. As for Loki, none of the Avengers trusted him but things were less tense than when he had first showed up on Earth again.

For the first time in what felt like forever, everyone was gathered in the same place at the same time. 

So naturally, a party was thrown.

They all mingled in broken groups and Steve found himself nursing a beer while his attempt to catch up with Thor had somehow turned into a conversation which consisted of his friend telling a seemingly endless number of stories where Loki had used his apparent shapeshifting abilities to trick people.

“And then there was that time when I broke him out of Asgard’s prison to get him to help me fight Malekith,” Thor continued. “I was trying to sneak us out of the palace, and he almost got us caught when he changed into you- battle outfit and all- and started going on a whole spiel about freedom and justice. But fortunately I was quick-witted enough to prevent that from happening." 

Steve immediately looked up at his friend.

“Wait, hold on, he changed into _me?_ Why?”

Thor laughed.

“I truly don’t know why, though I think it might be because he was jealous of the new friends I made in you guys.”

“Yeah, but me? We barely even…” Steve gestured vaguely with his beer, but Thor only grinned.

“Don’t be like that! You’re a remarkable man, the courageous leader of the Avengers- of course you’d be memorable, even in the eyes of your enemies.”

With a final pat on Steve’s back that would no doubt hurt like hell without the serum, Thor sauntered off into the direction of the food table. Steve watched as his friend proceeded to strike up a conversation with Loki while he piled up his plate with more of the mini-burgers and spring rolls, seemingly oblivious to the visible disgust on his brother’s face.

Thor’s story was still fresh in Steve’s mind and he couldn’t quite ignore the nagging feeling of _something_ that he felt when he looked at Loki. Loki, who could shapeshift. Loki, who had only ever seen Steve in that ridiculous suit which had rapidly gotten upgraded and replaced. A theory started forming in Steve’s mind, one which wouldn’t go away despite its far-fetchedness.

He didn’t even notice that he’d been subconsciously staring at Loki the whole time until curious green eyes suddenly met his. Steve sheepishly averted his gaze and proceeded to slide into the conversation of the group closest to him, which happened to consist of Clint, Vision and Wanda.

But no matter how many different groups and conversations he flitted through, the possibility of the fake Captain America being Loki kept haunting the back of Steve’s mind. It was absurd, because he even found himself repeatedly glancing in Loki’s direction as if that would somehow provide him proof for his suspicions. It got to the point where he was actually _relieved_ when Tony proposed a drinking game, as it meant that he had the excuse to slip out to the balcony unnoticed.

Well, mostly unnoticed. 

“Captain,” said an even voice. Steve turned around and found himself less surprised than he should be at the sight of Loki standing behind him.

“Loki,” Steve politely returned. “Not a fan of drinking games?”

“Not particularly,” Loki said, dismissiveness clear in his tone. He strode over until he was able to lean against the railings on his arms.

The silence was weighed down by a sense of expectancy, like both of them were waiting for the other to speak first. It didn’t take long for Steve to break, and he sighed.

“Is there a reason why you followed me here?" 

Loki raised his eyebrows in a faux-innocent expression.

“I was merely concerned- after all, I’ve noticed that you’ve been rather… distracted.”

At the last word Loki’s voice abruptly dipped lower, and it suddenly occurred to Steve that maybe Loki’s magic also extended to mindreading. He breathed in to quell the curling wave of wariness.

Steve opened his mouth, but he closed it again and bit his lip. If he wanted to, then now was the chance to ask. But he hesitated, because he definitely didn’t know Loki well enough to come out straight with a _“Hey, Thor told me about that one time you shapeshifted into me and I was just wondering if you did it again and made a bunch of PSAs in the process”_.

Loki’s eyelids lowered as he regarded Steve’s silence.

“There’s something you want to tell me, isn’t there?” 

Before Steve could reply, he watched in bewilderment as intense green eyes slowly raked down his body, in an unmistakable manner that made him realise- 

_Oh._

“Oh, no, no. That’s not it at all.” Steve felt an involuntary blush creeping through his cheeks, because damn it, he couldn’t believe he’d been so terrible at hiding his curiosity that he’d given Loki _that_ impression instead.

“No?”

“No,” Steve confirmed. The heat at the tip of his ears only intensified when Loki actually seemed to look _disappointed._  

He awkwardly cleared his throat.

“I just- Thor’s been telling me about your shapeshifting abilities.”

Loki hummed curiously.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. Did you ever come down to Earth after you faked your death?”

Loki seemed miffed at the apparent abrupt change in subject. He crossed his arms, almost defensively. 

“And if I have?” 

Steve took a deep breath.

“Did you impersonate me during any of those trips?” 

He watched as realisation finally dawned on Loki’s face.

The god of mischief grinned.

“Oh, so have you finally found those videos? How do you like them?”

Steve wasn’t sure what his face looked like, but it made Loki break out into laughter.

“I just…” Steve ran his fingers through his hair. “Why? Why me?”

Loki shrugged, though traces of amusement still remained on his face. 

“Why not? I happened to be in your realm when the most excellent idea suddenly occurred to me- why not leave the Avengers a little present? I needed to thank you for our previous encounter, after all. And who else would I gift it to, if not their leader?”

Annoyance flared up in Steve, but he forced himself to keep his cool. There was a lot to unpack in what was said, namely… 

“What were you doing on Earth in the first place?”

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Captain.” Loki had the gall to actually preen under Steve’s suspicious frown, though something about his smile felt off. “I merely had a… package to deliver.”

“A package.”

“One that was completely harmless, I assure you. I personally made sure of that." 

“And where’s that package now?”

Unexpectedly, the mirth in Loki’s demeanour faded.

“Gone. I watched him fade before my eyes.” Green eyes hardened. “So rest assured, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.”

Loki glared, as if daring Steve to disagree. There was the weight of an unspoken story behind that haunted gaze, one that Steve instinctively _knew_ he shouldn't pry into.

So he didn’t. 

Besides, now that the truth behind the fake Captain America in the PSAs was revealed,  it became apparent just how laughable the entire thing was. Steve knew that their previous fight had barely scratched the surface of Loki’s abilities- the god could’ve done so much worse. And yet, he had settled for something that was essentially harmless. Extremely petty, but harmless.

As much as being impersonated irked Steve, he couldn’t help but admit that if anything, it only further proved that the Loki standing before him was a completely different person to the megalomaniac who tried to invade New York.

“Alright then,” Steve finally said. “But still, why those videos?”

Loki seemed relieved at the conversation’s abrupt change in direction, enough that the edges of his lips twitched upwards into a ghost of a smirk.

“They’re hardly worse than some of the other performances you have in your repertoire, don’t you think?”

Unbidden, the unwanted memories of being forced to watch footage from his dancing monkey performances in front of the other Avengers surfaced to his mind. Their investigation on the fake Captain America had to be paused _again_ because of how hard everyone had been laughing. Was having those recordings vanish into the abyss of time too much to hope for?

“I… how did you even know about those?”

Loki only grinned. 

“I have my ways. In fact-” He cocked his head as he watched Steve curiously. “While I was doing reconnaissance on the Avengers, I found you quite fascinating, because you didn’t seem real.”

Steve could only blink, because _what._  

“You felt like such a caricature,” Loki clarified. “An embodiment of all these… ideals. Like you were a character in a performance. You even had the costume to go with it.”

Steve internally cringed. That hit a little too close to home. After waking up from the ice, it felt like that was how everyone saw him. He had to admit that he was even a little guilty of reinforcing that perception of himself- sometimes, it just felt easier to go along with what everyone expected of him, and if that meant playing the role of Captain America, then so be it. In those confusing weeks he had first spent in the 21st century, everyone wanted and needed Captain America, not Steve Rogers, so that’s what he gave them. After all, what business did Steve Rogers have with aliens invading New York?

It was scary how Loki managed to see past all of that, even though the crux of their interaction consisted of their brief scuffle in Stuttgart.

Steve sighed.

“Well you’re not wrong. That’s who Captain America is." 

Loki gave him a questioning look.

“You speak as if you aren’t one and the same.”

Steve shrugged.

“I guess we are and we aren’t. But Captain America’s always been a symbol. For the war, for whatever agendas the government feels like pushing…” He trailed off when he couldn’t quite hold back the bitter note in his voice.

This only seemed to heighten Loki’s intrigue.

“So I wasn’t wrong, then. You’re quite the actor- not many are willing to dedicate themselves to their craft to such a degree, taking their performance into the battlefield with them. You chose a trademark and you stuck with it. That’s dedication.”

Steve paused, because he never really thought about it that way.

“Well that’s one way to put it, I guess. Are you a fan of the performance arts or something?”

“Of course,” Loki said in a tone which suggested that he was offended at the very idea that Steve might’ve thought otherwise. Steve couldn’t help but let out a huff of laughter in response. 

“I suppose they don’t have anything like Captain America in Asgard.” 

“No,” Loki agreed. Then, his eyes suddenly brightened.

“Although…” 

Steve only caught the brief glimpse of a mischievous grin before a flash of bright light travelled across Loki’s entire body. By the time Steve finally managed to blink the spots out of his eyes, his eyes focused on… himself. 

He watched a smirk twist across his own face. 

“Why would we need anything _like_ Captain America, when I can be the real thing whenever I want?”

Steve would be lying if he said that it didn’t feel weird, hearing his own voice while the inflections were all still very much _Loki._ Loki’s imitation of his appearance was spot-on though, right down to the wrinkles of his blue shirt in the area where it was tucked into his dark dress pants. It felt nothing like watching videos of himself, or even looking into the mirror. 

A sudden burst of uproarious laughter and cheering erupted from inside the room, startling them both. Steve peered through the glass door of the balcony.

_Huh._ Looks like the drinking game has ended.

“Perhaps we should return,” Loki mused, to which Steve hummed in agreement.

Inside, everyone was slowly dispersing back into their groups. Next to Steve, Loki straightened and made as if to leave.

Loki still hadn’t transformed back into himself yet, though Steve knew it was not for much longer.

An idea suddenly occurred to him, and it took everything in him not to burst out into laughter.

“Wait, don’t change back yet” Steve said. He grinned when Loki cast him a quizzical look.

“I have an idea.”

 

* * *

 

Thor felt someone bump into his arm, causing some of his beer to slosh over the side. 

“Oh! Sorry!” Rogers winced apologetically, but Thor merely laughed and reassured his friend that it was alright. Thor’s eyes searched the room and he grinned when he spotted Banner and Brunnhilde all the way near the balcony entrance. But as he approached, he noticed that outside on the balcony, it appeared that Stark and Rogers were conversing. 

Thor paused.

He turned back and saw that the Captain he had bumped into was talking to Wilson and Barnes. Thor narrowed his eyes and immediately began scanning the room for Loki, only to find his brother missing. 

He set his cup down on the closest table as exasperation welled up inside him. He _knew_ that one of the Captains was actually a product of Loki’s magic.

Thor settled his suspicious gaze back on the Rogers with Wilson and Barnes. He wouldn’t put it past Loki to ‘accidentally’ cause him to spill something onto himself. As discreetly as he could, Thor fished a half-melted ice cube out of his untouched drink. Then, he retraced his steps and threw it in the first Captain’s direction.

The ice cube bounced harmlessly off Rogers’ upper back, prompting the man to spin around with an indignant “Hey!” at Thor. The look of shocked hurt on the Captain’s face was enough to make Thor immediately backpedal, lest he get eaten alive by the rapidly rising levels of guilt.

“I apologise for my behaviour, I thought you were Loki,” he said, and he resolutely ignored the combined force of the extreme confusion emanating from both Wilson and Barnes. 

“Uh, okay then?” replied Rogers, which made Thor scratch the back of his neck sheepishly. He apologised to the Captain again before storming off in the direction of the balcony.

“Loki, change back,” Thor demanded the moment he (carefully) slammed the balcony door shut behind him.

He levelled a challenging stare at the false Captain, ignoring Stark’s whispered “What the fuck” in the background.

But ‘Rogers’ only frowned.

“Thor, what happened? What are you talking about?”

“Stop trying to play innocent, Brother. I don’t know what trick you’re trying to play while wearing the Captain’s face, but you need to stop right now because he’s a good man and he doesn’t deserve this.”

The frown on the Captain’s face only deepened.

“I have no idea-”

“Then who is that inside, speaking with Wilson and Barnes?” Thor cut him off, gesturing through the glass balcony door. He watched both Stark and ‘Rogers’ fall silent as they squinted in the direction he was pointing at. When Stark’s jaw dropped, Thor felt a surge of triumph.

‘Rogers’, however, barely reacted.

“Oh. Yeah. That’s Loki.” 

Thor gaped.

“What the fuck,” Stark repeated. “Oh my god. I cannot- guys! GUYS!”

 Stark practically fled from the balcony and back inside, where Thor faintly registered that his friend was babbling to the others about the two Captains. Thor glanced back at the Rogers next to him, to which the other man merely responded with a shrug and a wordless “Shall we?” gesture.

 If the Rogers from the balcony was truly Loki, then his brother did well to hide all the subtle gestures that would’ve given him away. It appeared that everyone else felt the same way, once they went back inside. 

Barnes kept glancing between the Rogers next to him and the one from the balcony with unadulterated horror. 

“Who the _fuck_ ,” he exclaimed, “left Steven _Goddamn_ Rogers alone with the actual _God of Mischief?_ ”

The Rogers next to him doubled over in laughter, and Wilson discreetly inched away from him.

“I still think you’re the real Loki,” Thor said to the second Rogers, who smiled in amusement and shook his head.

“No no,” said the young witch. “I’ve seen him make that face too many times.” She pointed at the first Rogers. “I think it’s you.”

“Can’t you just use your powers to check?” Barton asked.

“But it’s more fun to guess!” 

“Well I, for one, am betting it’s you,” Stark said, also pointing at the first Rogers. “Because I _hope_ it’s you. If it turns out that I’d been having a heart-to-heart with _Loki,_ then I’m officially leaving this planet.”

“I’m with Thor,” Romanov finally piped up.

“I’ll pass,” Brunnhilde said, waving her hand lazily. 

“I’ll pass too,” Vision chuckled. “I think it’ll be cheating if I participated.”

“Oh man, this is tough,” Rhodes said. “I think I’ll stick with Thor, since he should know his brother best. What about you, Bruce?” 

Banner laughed. 

“Well _I,_ ” he said, “don’t care about cheating.” He pointed at the first Rogers. “I know you’re Loki.”

“Really?” Thor frowned. “How?”

Banner shrugged. “He smells different.” 

They all watched the first Rogers sigh and hold his hands up in surrender. A flash of bright light engulfed him and Loki stood in his place, grinning.

“Oh thank _god,_ ” Stark muttered, as Wanda cheered and everyone else made varying exclamations of disbelief.

Thor crossed his arms and _did not_ sulk at his loss. He was just glaring at his brother for being an ass. 

But that was when he noticed his brother meeting the Captain’s eyes. They both grin. 

_Oh no._

With a flick of his wrist and a flash of bright light, Rogers was also replaced by Loki.

“Oh for _fuck’s_ sake!”

 

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is [@aphrodaisyacs](http://aphrodaisyacs.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Feel free to talk to me :)
> 
> EDIT: In light of tumblr being a penis, my pillowfort is [@aphrodaisyacs](https://pillowfort.io/aphrodaisyacs)


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